Button and button-hole position marking machine



Feb. 23, 1960 T. F. BAGLEY BUTTON AND BUTTON-HOLE POSITION MARKING MACHINE ZSheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 19, 1956 Feb. 23, 1960 'r. F. BAGLEY BUTTON AND BUTTON-HOLE POSITION MARKING MACHINE Filed Dec. 19, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 BUTTDN AND BUiTGN-HQLE P$SITION MG MACL Thomas F. Bagley, Sntton-in-Ashiield, England, assignor to Foister, Clay 8; Ward Limited, Frog island, Leicester, England, a British company Application December 19, 1956, Serial No. 629,337

Claims priority, application Great Britain December 19, 1955 Claims. (Cl. 3319) This invention relates to button and button-hole position marking machines, that is to say machines equipped with spaced pairs of (mo-operating upper and lower markers adapted to be brought together to mark the fronts of garments introduced between them, the rows of position marks thereby produced serving to guide the operators of buttoners and button-holding machines when, subsequently, buttons are attached to, and button-holes are formed in, the garments.

Without any limitation in this respect, the invention is principally intended for application to button and button-hole position marking machines of the class wherein the markers apply to the garment fronts marks made by wax crayons and which, although invisible in ordinary light, are made to glow under lamps emitting which are presented to one garment front through the- Thus, by fitting such lamps in appro slotin the base, an upper marker carriage in the form of a bar which is disposed above and is relatively movable towards and away from the base bar respectively against and under a biassing influence, a series of corresponding spaced upper markers constituted by pencil-like crayon holders disposable in axial alignment with the said lower In a machine of longitudinally to permit of variation in the spacing of the upper markers, is connected by means of vertical steel rods with a treadle-operated horizontal pull-bar located beneath the table upon which the machine is mounted; These vertical rods are slidable up and down within tubes attached to the table and extending up through the base bar, and the upper marker carriage is usually controlled by com ression springs which are arranged to surround the tubes and the upper ends of the said rods and are interposed between the top surface of the base bar and the underside of the upper marker crariage. Thus, when i the horizontal pull-bar is pulleddown by depression of the treadle, against the action of the compression springs the upper markers will be brought into co-operativ'e relationship with respect to the lower markers.

- -In a marking machine of the kind referred to, more- I I 2,925,661 Patented Feb. 23, 1960 over, the lower markers are automatically rotated upon depression of the treadle, whereas the upper markers are so made that they will be rotated when they are lowered to marking position. As to the lower markers, these are combined with sprocket wheels which are arranged in mesh with a longitudinally movable length of roller chain. At one end, this chain is connected to a return spring, whilst the opposite end of the chain is attached to a cable which is passed around a pulleyor pulleys and is connected with the treadleeither in a direct manner or through the medium of the horizontal pull-bar. in any event the arrangement is such that when, upon depression of the treadle, the crayons in the crayon holders closely'approach the heads of the lower markers only then will the latter commence to rotate. The upper markers on the other hand, are provided at their upper ends with helixes, e.g. of twisted steel, which are fitted in twisting plates forming parts of brackets attached to and depending from the upper marker carriage. Between the latter and these brackets are interposed compression springs serving to control the upper markers. Thus, when the crayons Contact the heads of the lower markers, or the appropriate front of a garment inserted between the two, sets of markers, any further downward movement of the upper markers will be arrested, and column-- ing descent of the upper marker carriage will cause the crayons to. rotate. Prior to-inserting a garment into the machine for marking, the treadle is depressed with an even, gentle stroke as a consequence of which some crayon matter will be deposited on the lower marker heads. Next, taking the upper (neck) ends of both fronts of a garment in one hand and'the lower (waist) ends in the other hand, the garment is held and placed upon the stationary base bar using a gauge atone side of the machine for reference.- The treadle is then depressed again to mark'all the button and button-hole positions simultaneously. Usually, the lower markers mark the button-hole positions, whilst the correspondingv button positions are marked by the crayons themselves. 1 Now heretofore, both the upper andthe lower markers, after being initially adjusted to suit a particular size or/ and style of garment, were fixed and could not, therefore, be moved to vary the regular spacing between them during a run of marking operations. In this regard, 'it has been the prior practice first to adjust the top markers, and then to line up the button markers so as to bring both sets of markers into alignment. A button and button-hole position marking machine of the kind described as previously constructed has accordingly proved unsatisfactory when marking fashioned knitted garmentajsuch as lumber jackets, which, owing to variations in the knitting and shrinkage during dyeing; tend-to vary in length. For instance, with knitted garments which are supposed to be of the same size, the length ofjthe fronts may sometimes vary by as much as 1 /27.. In cases where there were comparatively large discrepancies in length, a marking run had previously to be interrupted so that the markers could be individually adjusted and set either nearer to or farther away from each other, according to requirements... Such adjustments, involving the slackening and re-tightening of nuts, and the measuring of the distances between the markers was a troublesome and time-consuming procedure. The object of the present invention is so to improve the construction of a button and button-hole position marking machine of the kind concerned, that, by a single and simple act on the part of the operator of the machine; all of the upper and lower markers canbe simultaneously adjusted inthe manner required to compensate forany variation in the length of the fronts of a garment from the standard length appropriate for a given garment size.

According to this invention, appropriate upper markers, and opposing lower markers, in the improved machine are mounted at equally spaced points upon carriers which are longitudinally extensible and contractible suchwise as to efifect adjustments of the markers collectively and to the same extents, the said carriers being connected and operable together by a common actuating member readily accessible to the operator.

The extensible and contractible upper marker carrier is supported by the aforementioned longitudinally slotted and vertically movable carriage, with the upper markers extending down through the slot, and is fitted in addition with a depending gauge element which is located at the appropriate end of the series of upper markers and arranged to move down with the latter into contact with a garment front. The gauge element does not, however, mark the garment and is used merely as a point of reference to facilitate accurate positioning of the garment upon the stationary base so that it will be correctly marked.

The ends of the complete series of upper and lower markers remote from the gauge element include markers which are fixed, i.e. remain stationary when the marker carriers are extended or contracted, and these fixed markers are used for making a rib-knitted waist of a garment.

Thus, in using the improved machine, and after crayon matter has been deposited on the lower marker heads in the manner hereinbefore described, the garment fronts, in superimposed relation, are first laid upon the base bar in such a position that the fixed markers will mark the rib knitted waist. Then, not only is the conventional treadle partially depressed to pull down the upper marker carriage and advance it towards the base bar, but at the same time (and if necessary) the operator actuates the connected marker carriers to bring the gauge element into alignment with a predetermined point at or near the neck of the upwardly presented garment front. When the gauge element is correctly positioned with respect to this end of the front, the conventional treadle is fully depressed to perform the marking operation. The idea therefore is that in bringing the gauge element to the same relative point on each garment to be marked, all of the upper and lower markers for marking the actual fronts (in contra-distinction to the ribbed waist of the garment which is'marked by the fixed markers) will be automatically correctly spaced irrespective of the length of the fronts. Thus, if a garment is longer than standard, the marker carriers will require to be longitudinally extended to effect a collective adjustment of the upper and lower adjustable markers. When such an adjustment is made the spaces between the markers will be increased all to the same extent.

Preferably, the marker carriers are initially adjusted to set the markers at appropriate positions for use when marking garments of a given size. For instance, the initial setting may be such that the marker carriers will require to be extended before the markers can correctly mark even a garment of standard (average) length for any given size. In that case it will be found that some degree of extension of the carriers is necessary for marking every garment-whether this is of standard length or longer or shorter than the latter.

Each of the two marker carriers may conveniently consist of a system of interconnected levers or like elements capable of extension in such a manner that equally spaced points on the system remain equi-distant irrespcctively as to whether the system is extended or contracted to respectively increase or decrease the spacing.

Advantageously, each such system of levers or the like is suitably biassed, e.g. spring controlled, so that it is extended, by a movement of the aforesaid common actuating member, against the action of the biassing means, and is contracted under the influence of these means upon release of the said actuating member.

In accordance with a feature of the invention, compensating means of any suitable character are associated with the biassing means to even out the pull exerted by the latter and thereby ensure that the interconnected levers or like elements of each marker carrier shall not jam or bind when the carrier is extended and contracted.

The actuating member common to both marker carriers may conveniently consist of an auxiliarly treadle, and flexible connections, such as Bowden cables, may be provided to connect the carriers with such treadle.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, each extensible and contractible marker carrier consists of a lazy tongs, i.e. a system of articulated bars comprising connected pairs of centrally pivoted bars which are capable of movement scissor-wise to effect extension and contraction of the carrier.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood and readily carried into practical effect a specific constructional example thereof applied to an otherwise conventional form of marking machine of the kind herein referred to will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein,

Figure l is a general perspective view of the said machine embodying the invention,

Figure 2 is a plan view of the lazy tongs system of pivoted bars carrying the upper markers, and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary detail view partly in vertical section, showing the manner in which a lower marker is mounted and arranged for rotation.

In the example illustrated, a lazy tongs system A of pivoted bars is mounted flat upon the top of a longitudinally slotted bar 2 of inverted channel section constituting the downwardly and upwardly movable upper marker carriage (see Figure l). The lazy tongs A comprise five pairs of appropriately interconnected centrally pivoted bars 3. The outer extremities of the bars 3 at the left-hand end of the system A are articulated at 4 and 5 to a pair of relatively short arms 6 and 7 which are mounted to swivel about a fixed upper marker 8 secured in the carriage 2. Spaced a predetermined distance to the left of the said fixed upper marker 8 is a second fixed upper marker 9 about the axis of which is mounted to turn a straight two-armed compensating lever 10 (shown more clearly in Figure 2) arranged to lay flat upon the top of the upper marker carriage 2. Appropriate bars 3 of the lazy tongs A are extended somewhat in length at 3a, i.e. at opposite sides of the system, to enable them to have anchored thereto the right-hand ends of return springs 11 of the tension type which lie alongside the lazy tongs and are attached at their left-hand ends to the outer extremities of the oppositely directed arms 10a of the compensating lever 10. The bars 3 of the system extended at 311 also have anchored thereto a second pair of tension springs 12 which extend rightwards and are attached at their righthand ends to the extended ends 312 of further bars of the lazy tongs system. Thus the pairs of springs 11 and 12 at opposite sides of the system A serve to effect uniform contraction of the lazy tongs after a pull to extend the same has been relaxed. The presence of the compensating lever 10 ensures that the pull exerted by the said springs at opposite sides of the system is even, thereby preventing the pivoted pairs of bars 3 from binding. To the left of the second fixed upper marker 9 about which the compensating lever 10 swivels is a third fixed upper marker 13, the three fixed markers 8, 9 and 13, suitably spaced apart, serving to mark the button positions of a three-button ribbed waist of a knitted garment such as a lumber jacket. At the pivotal point 14 (Figure 2) of each of the five pairs of centrally pivoted bars 3 of the lazy tongs A is mounted one of a series of five upper markers 15 (Figure 1). for marking equally spaced button positions on the appropriate front of the garment.

These five upper markers 15, as also the three fixed markers 8, 9 and 13, extend downwardly through a longitudinal slot 16 provided in the upper marker carriage 2. Articulated to the outer ends 30 of the pair of pivoted bars 3 at the right-hand end of the lazy tongs are two further relatively short arms 17 and 18 mounted to swivel about the axis of, and arranged to carry, a depending right-hand gauge pin 1%. This pin 19, like the upper markers, extends down through the slot 16 in the upper marker carriage 2. As depicted in Figure 1, the upper end of the gauge pin 19 projects above thecarriage and extends through a slot 20a formed in a straight bar 20 which at its left-hand end is mounted upon the upper end of the right-hand one of the markers 15. Thus, by an adjustment of the gauge pin 19, along the slot in the bar 20, the initial spacing of the five adjustable markers 15 and the gauge pin 19 is determined. This initial spacing can be varied for marking garments of different sizes.

Three fixed lower markers 21, 22 and 23, disposed in axial alignment with the corresponding fixed upper markers 8, 9 and 13 respectively, are provided in a longitudinally slotted horizontal platform 24 which is mounted on the conventional vertical tubes 25 a short distance below the correspondingly slotted stationary base bar 26. Five further lower markers 27 are mounted in a lazy tongs system B of pivoted bars 28 similar to the system A of bars 3 already described, this second system B laying flat upon and being supported by the horizontal platform 24. The lower marker lazy tongs B are also controlled by pairs of tension springs 29 and 34 having associated therewith a pivoted two-armed compensating lever 31 similar to the lever It) already described. Each of the five lower markers 27 movable with the bottom lazy tongs B has attached to its underside, as shown in Figure 3, a sprocket wheel 32 from which depends a short vertical spindle 33. This spindle 33 is freely rotatable within a small, vertically disposed bearing sleeve 34 which extends down through a longitudinal slot 24a in the horizontal platform 24 and is flanged at 34a for support by the said platform. The lower end of each bearing sleeve 34 is screw-threaded to receive a securing nut 35, although even when this nut is screwed up, the sleeve is still free to slide along the slot 24a. The upper end 34b of each bearing sleeve 34 is reduced in diameter and constitutes the fulcrum for the relevant pair of pivoted bars 28 of the lazy tongs B which, therefore, rest upon the top of the flange 34a of the sleeve. The sprocket wheels 32 mesh with a spring-influenced chain 36 (see right-hand end of Figure 1) which is connected with the conventional horizontal pull-bar 37 through the medium of a conventional cable and pulley system 38, 39.

The right-hand end of the straight, slotted bar 20 connected to the upper marker lazy tongs A, and the same end of the lower marker lazy tongs B are connected, by means of flexible Bowden cables 40 and 41, to an auxiliary treadle T arranged to be depressed by the operators right foot. These cables extend through fixed outer casings or sheaths 42 and 43 so arranged that when the auxiliary treadle is depressed both of the lazy tongs A and B will be simultaneously pulled to the right and extended to the same degree against the action of the associated pairs of tension springs.

As usual in a marking machine of the kind concerned, the upper marker carriage 2 is connected, by means of vertical steel rods 44-, with the treadle-operated pull-bar 37 located beneath the table 45 upon which the machine is mounted. The treadle for operating the bar 37 is indicated at T. The vertical rods 44 are slidable up and down within the aforementioned tubes 25 which are mounted upon the table 45 and extend up through the base bar 26. The upper marker carriage 2 is controlled by compression springs 46 interposed between the top surface of the base bar 26 and the underside of the upper marker carriage 2.

'I claim:

1. A button and button-hole position marking machine comprising, in combination, a stationary longitudinally slotted base bar to support garments to be marked, a series of lower markers having heads which are presented to a garment through the slot in said base bar, a first lazy tongs upon which said lower markers are mounted at equally spaced points, said first lazy tongs comprising connected pairs of centrally pivoted bars which are movable scissor-wise to effect extension and contraction of said lazy tongs such wise "as to effect adjustments of the lower markers collectively and to the same extents, additional lower markers which remain stationary when the first lazy tongs is extended and contracted, springs whereby the pivoted bars of said first lazy tongs are controlled so that the latter are extended against the spring action and contracted under said action, compensating means associated with said springs to even out the pull exerted by the latter and ensure that the pivoted bars do not bind, a longitudinally slotted and vertically movable upper marker carriage in the form of a bar which is disposed above and is relatively movable towards and away from the slotted base bar, biassing means against and under the influence of which said upper marker carriage is so moved towards and, away from the base bar, a series of upper markers constituted by crayon holders disposed in axial alignment with the corresponding lower markers, 2. second lazy tongs supported by the upper marker carriage and upon which the upper markers are mounted at equally spaced points and in such a way as to extend down through the slot in said upper marker carriage, said second lazy tongs being of the same construction and controlled by springs having compensating means associated therewith in the same way as the first lazy tongs whereby adjustments of the upper markers to the same extents as the appropriate lower markers can be effected, additional upper markers which are axially aligned with the aforesaid additional lower markers and remain stationary when the second lazy tongs is extended and contracted, a depending gauge element located at the appropriate end of the series of upper markers and arranged to move down with the latter into contact with a garment, said gauge element being carried by two arms articulated to a pair of the pivoted bars of said second lazy tongs, means for pulling down the upper marker carriage and bringing the upper and lower markers into co-operative relationship with a garment between them, means causing the upper markers to rotate as and when they make contact with and press upon a garment, means operable from the said pull-down means to rotate the lower markers, means connecting the first and second lazy tongs, and a common actuating member for simultaneously extending and contracting said two connected lazy tongs to the same extents.

2. A machine for correspondingly marking button and button hole positions, comprising a first and a second plate parallelly mounted and with opposing slots, means for moving at least one said plate relative to the other, tubular elements slidably mounted in each said slot in registry with corresponding elements in the opposing slot, marker pins journalled in said elements, a pair of bars mounted to pivot about each said element and those for each slot being interconnected in a lazy tong construction, means connected at like ends of each said lazy tong construction for displacing both constructions simultaneously and correspondingly, and pivotal means connected to the bars of at least one corresponding pair in each said construction for controlling said displacement thereof.

3. A machine according to claim 2 wherein said controlling means comprises a bar pivotally mounted apart from the end of each said construction opposite said displacement means connection, and springs joining the ends '7 of said last-named bar with the bars of at least one pair in said construction.

1 4. A machine according to claim 3 wherein said controlling means further comprises springs joining the bars of said one pair in each said construction with a second pair correspondingly in each said construction.

5. A button and button-hole position marking rnachine comprising, in combination, a stationary longitudinally slotted base to support garments to be marked, a series of lower markers having heads which are presented to a garment through the slot in said base, a first lazy tongs upon which said lower markers are mounted at equally spaced points, said first lazy tongs comprising connected pairs of centrally pivoted bars which. are movable scissor-wise to eifect extension and contraction of said lazy tongs whereby adjustment of the lower markers collectively and to the same extents is achieved, springs whereby the pivoted bars of said first lazy tongs are controlled so that the latter are extended against the spring action and contracted under said action, compensating means associated with said springs to even out the pull exerted by the latter and to ensure that the pivoted bars do not bind, an upper marker carriage in the form of a bar which is disposed above and is relatively movable toward and away from the slotted base,

biassing means against and under the influence of which said upper marker carriage is so moved toward and away from the base, a series of upper markers constituted by crayon holders disposed in axial alignment with the corresponding lower markers, a second lazy tongs supported'by the upper marker carriage and upon which the upper markers are mounted at equally spaced points, said second lazy tongs being of the same construction and being controlled by springs having compensating means associated therewith in the same manner as the first lazy tongs whereby adjustments of the upper markers to the same extents as the appropriate lower markers can be effected, means for pulling down the upper marker carriage and bringing the upper and lower markers into co-operative relationship with a garment between them, means causing the upper markers to rotate as and when they make contact with and press upon a garment, means operable from said pull-down means for rotating the lower markers, means connecting the first and second lazy tongs, and a common actuating member for simultaneously extending and contracting said two connected lazy tongs to the same extents, the said springs in each of the first and second lazy tongs being anchored at one of their ends to the ends of extended portions of bars of each of the lazy tongs and anchored at their other ends to oppositely directed arms of a two-armed compensating lever constituting said compensating means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 877,795 McKenzie Jan. 28, 1908 1,624,622 Pectal et al. Apr. 12, 1927 1,908,302 Bassler May 9, 1933 2,572,682 Urish Oct. 23, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 313,107 Great Britain June 6, 1929 

